Monsters
by Aquilos
Summary: To fight monsters, we made monsters of our own.
1. Chapter 1

_To fight monsters, we made monsters of our own, and of ourselves_

"**Subject G-32, proceed to Theatre 1." **

There it was again, that mechanical discombobulated voice that ruled his life. He hated it. Hated the way it sounded so empty. Hated the way he was herded and ordered around like a thing. For once he wished he could just ignore it and stay where he was. Defiantly he refused to pick up his feet.

"**Subject G-32, proceed to Theatre 1."**

He had made up his mind, this time he would not heel to the beck and call of that voice.

"**Subject G-32, proceed to Theatre 1, Now." **

It sounded agitated now. Good. Make them stew he thought to himself. He felt himself cracking a grin, the newfound feeling of rebellion surging through him like a rush. This was a new feeling, and he liked it. It felt good.

"**Proceeding with disciplinary protocol."**

Suddenly he fell to the ground writhing in pain as the helmet around his head delivered a surge of electricity through his body. It hurt, it hurt a lot. He could feel tears leaking from his eyes and his muscles screaming as the voltage coursed through him. Everything felt like it was on fire. Then just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. He panted heavily as he tried to recover the use of his limbs and stave off the pain that still echoed through his body.

"**Subject G-32, proceed to Theatre 1."**

Reluctantly and still numb from the electricity, he got up and began to trudge forward. He made his way down a familiar hallway and through a set of blast doors into a featureless white room with another blast door on the opposite side of the room as him. High above in the ceiling was a transparent floor where multiple people in white coats were looking down at him, like how one would eye a very curious rat. The doors behind him slammed close as he entered the theatre.

"**Begin Testing."**

The blast doors on the other side of the room began to open, revealing an unlit chamber behind it. From the darkness came the sound of snarling and ragged breathing. Slow heavy footsteps started echoing around the room as the beast inside came into view. A colossal Beringel, much larger than a normal, came into view. The boney plates on its body were far more numerous and thicker than that of a typical Beringel in the wild. This one clearly had to have been an Alpha that had survived for decades if not close to a century to get to this state. The Beringel's single red eye focused in on the only other thing in the room, him. Giving a loud roar and beating its chest, it leapt forward seeking to crush the seemingly insignificant thing before him in a single blow.

How foolish it was.

The Beringel suddenly found itself flying away across the room in the opposite direction before crashing into the wall, leaving a sizeable dent. It shook away the dizziness of getting hit and tried to refocus on its prey. Before it could get a decent footing. A black claw had shot out of seemingly nowhere and clenched itself around the Berengil's neck. The Beringel grasped onto and tried to pry itself away from its clutches, only for the grip to become even tighter, cracking several of the bone plates along its neck. It roared in pain as the Beringel felt its life being squeezed out. Twisting its head around it finally got a good look at what had trapped it. The insignificant thing it had planned to simply kill had changed dramatically. Its right arm had mutated into the colossal black claw that was currently around the Berengil's neck. It was dotted with spines and bone plating, a trademark characteristic of Grimm. Then the thing began to walk forward, slowly but surely. He stretched his left arm outwards and it began to boil and pulsate before morphing into a black limb, that from it grew a colossal lance-like appendage. The Berengil began to panic even harder and tore maddeningly at the claw around its neck, its natural instincts recognizing what was about to happen. Suddenly with a seemingly inhuman burst of speed, the thing had drove the bone lance through the Berengil's torso driving through its boney armor as if it were butter. With a pain filled roar the Berengil fell dead.

00000

"_Again and again."___he thought to himself as the Berengil died, its body falling limp and dropping to the floor with a great _thud_. Every day since he could remember he would be brought to this room, fight whatever monster was prepared for him that day, and then be returned to that lightless cell they held him in. He had killed so many of these things he had given up on trying to keep track.

"_They" _he thought to himself as he looked up through the transparent ceiling. _"What are they thinking right now? Are they amused? Is this for their pleasure? What do they WANT?!"_ These thoughts echoed through his mind as the white coats above talked to each other while scribbling away on the tablets in their hands. He kept looking up towards them looking for an answer until that cursed voice came on again.

"**Subject G-32, return to the holding cell." **The blast doors behind him opened again leading back to his prison.

"_I'm just a thing to them." _He thought to himself, _"A toy, an existence as worthless as those monsters." _He once again refused to move.

"**Subject G-32, return to the holding cell." **The second warning, he knew what would come next. Another electric shock, another experience of being burned from the inside out. He looked back at the pool of black sludge on the floor that used to be a Berengil. It's skull-like mask staring back at him. The more he stared the more he felt like he could hear whispering in his ear, of voices unseen from presences unknown. Yes, a sign, a choice.

"**Subject G-32, return to the holding cell, Now." **This was it, the choice had to be made. He smiled. A true genuine smile under his helmet as he looked at his mutated limbs. The Grimm were calling to him. Their whispers becoming clearer. To fight, to escape.

**To kill. **

Slowly he closed his claw into a fist, and closed his eyes, no longer trying to hold the power within at bay, this time he would let them out as he always should have.

00000

Alarms blared throughout the facility as staff and security scrambled about.

"Initiate lockdown procedures now!" One of the scientists ordered from the control room. "Have squads 5 through 7 ready. Tell them subduction of the subject is their top priority." The entire facility shook as the scientists grabbed onto whatever they could to keep from falling over. "What was that?" the scientist demanded, "Where is he?!" A security captain's face came over the screen in front of him.

"He's currently here in Area 5! We're doing our best to stop him-"

"GET DOWN!" a voice called out from behind the captain. The captain ducked just in time for a bone spine to shoot over his head and embed itself into the wall behind him. The captain turned around and came to see the visage of death itself. The subject was sprinting towards him and the remainder of his team, the crimson lights on his helmet resembling the eyes of a demon in the emergency lighting of the facility. His men leveled their rifles and took aim but before they could squeeze off a single shot, this monster was upon them. Talons and claws lashed out at inhuman speeds as the security troopers were torn to shreds, painting the corridor with blood and guts. The security captain started spraying wildly at it with his rifle but this monster was fast. It bounded between the walls and ceiling as the captain tried to land a good shot on him.

"DIE, JUST DIE!" The captain screamed, terrified out of his mind. The monster leapt onto the ceiling before springing off and diving towards the captain. The captain tried to shoot it but the rifle only gave a small _click._ The magazine was empty. Realizing what had just happened the captain stumbled back and fell to the floor in terror.

"NO no NO Please, NO!" The captain screamed as the monster was upon him.

00000

Back in the main control room, the scientists could only watch as the subject fell upon the captain before the video feed fizzled into static. The main scientist slammed his fist onto the console in front of him. "Dammit!" He screamed. "Deploy the rest of the security personnel, and have the external defenses on high alert, we cannot afford the subject escaping!"

"Sir, we have an incoming transmission from Dr. Hyde." A junior staff member reported to him. The scientist's face paled.

"Yes..send him through." he stammered. The screen in front of him lit up again, this time filling with the face of a thin man with an ashen complexion. His white hair was slicked back impossibly straight, revealing a prominent willow's peak. Piercing blue eyes stared out from behind small spectacles, as if boring into the soul of whoever he was looking at. His presence alone gave off an intense aura of authority, intensified this time by the fact that he did look happy. "Dr. Hyde, I-" The doctor raised his hand, silencing the scientist immediately.

"Spare me your prattling, I don't want to hear it." the doctor said harshly.

"Yes doctor…" The scientist gulped and looked down, unable to maintain eye contact with the man in front of him.

"The only thing I want to hear now, is how this situation had managed to occur. We had ample resources and protocols in place to ensure something like this would not happen. Explain yourself!"

"We don't know either sir." The scientist began. "The subject just suddenly snapped as if possessed and began to tear at the walls of the observation theatre. We had tried to subdue the subject with a max voltage discharge from the helmet but it barely even seem to faze him. He was through the wall within moments and then began to rampage through the facility."

"Hmmm interesting." stroked his chin as he heard this news, looking more curious than concerned. "This is an interesting development. Perhaps the process had given him more gifts than we had anticipated."

"Sir?" the scientist was confused by the doctor's present demeanor.

"Regardless." Dr. Hyde looked back at the scientist. "See to it that the subject is brought back intact. There are more questions now, questions that demand answers. You will do well to see to it."

"Yes sir." The scientist replied, sill sweating from his brow. "You have my word."

"Good." Dr Hyde replied. "Now then-" There was a sound of a muffled explosion as another shockwave shook the facility.

"What was that?!" The scientist demanded.

"Sirs, there's a situation now at Area 2!"

00000

Freedom. He could feel it in his bones. The fuel canisters had done their jobs well, blowing open a hole in the outside wall of the facility, leading towards a sheer drop off a cliff into a sea of snow capped trees beneath. Away in the distance, sparkled a city in the sky, a million lights all hovering above an ocean. Above that, the shattered moon hung in the night, casting its pale light across the landscape. Stepping forward, he took a deep breath, smelling for the first time he could remember, the crisp night air. It smelled like liberty.

"There!" A voice called out behind him. He turned around to see the hallway fill with security personnel. "Stop him!" Gunfire filled the hallway. Reacting on instinct he made a break for the hole in the wall as bullets whizzed past him. Just as he reached his exit, he felt his shoulder explode with pain as a buried itself into him. The gunshot, though not lethal, was enough to throw him off balance and stumble, enough for another bullet to tear into his right calf. Realizing if he didn't get out now he would be as good as dead, with a final burst of strength, he threw himself out of the blown hole in the wall and down the cliff below. Seeing what just happened, the security personnel rushed forward, turning on the flashlight on their rifles scanning the rocks and trees below for any sign of the escapee, but with how high up they were and how dark it was in the treelines below, no one could find any sign of him. One of the security personnel opted to report back to central command.

"Sir, he's gone. He went over the side of the cliff. We can't find any sign of him." the security officer reported. The scientist, hearing this news, slumped back into his chair. Stunned and shocked, unable to comprehend what just happened.

"What now…" He muttered to himself.

"It appears that the situation has developed beyond my expectations." Dr. Hyde commented.

"Sir, please I'll-" Dr. Hyde held up his hand, silencing the scientist once more.

"You know what you have to do. Remember, he'll need to replenish his dust soon otherwise the Grimm element will begin to run rampant. By my estimates we have twenty four hours before that happens. See to it that he is back here by then."

"Yes sir!" The scientist replied with as much sincerity as he could as Dr. Hyde signed off. Sighing, feeling some relief that he still had his head on his shoulders, the scientist fell back into his seat.

"Get the rest of the security personnel ready." He ordered the junior staff in the room. "Have them conduct an aerial sweep of the area within a ten mile radius. I want ground teams ready to move in on command. The subject must be reclaimed at any cost!"

"Yes sir!"

**So what do you guys think? Interesting concept? Let me know your thoughts in the review section. Till then, see ya.**


	2. Chapter 2

The cold night air bit at his skin as hell fell down towards the treeline. Instinctively raising his arms in front of him, he felt the familiar burning sensation as his left arm activated, swelling up in size and forming thick bone plating over itself, creating a buffer between him and the imminent impact below. He braced as he crashed into the pine canopy beneath, feeling a jolt lance through his body as he suddenly decelerated, shattering branches and stirring up snow as he headed for the ground. There was a muffled thump as he made impact, landing in a particularly thick mound of snow. He was still for a moment, still curled into a ball, trying to shake off the disorientation from the impact. When the feeling of shock left, he burst out of the snow and began tearing at the helmet on his head. Whatever was locking it to skull, it was effective and he couldn't find a release. With a roar, his right arm's claws dug into the back of the helmet and with great effort, ripped it off, broken fragments flying all around. Breathing heavily from the exertion, he looked around at the forest trying to find his bearings. When he tried to get up, he felt a sudden pain jolt through his right leg. Collapsing back into the snow, he was made aware of gunshot wounds in his shoulder and leg. The one in the leg was still bleeding, staining the snow around it with blood. Grimacing, he tried again to get up, ignoring the pain.

_Must go, must go now!_

He knew that there would be men after him soon. To stay still was to be captured. To be captured was to go back to that prison, and to go back was to be in that hell forever. Eventually he was able to get up to his feet, his leg still throbbing, but the need to run greatly overrode the pain that wracked his body. Picking a general direction, he began to run and stumble away, as fast as he physically could.

00000

He had been running nonstop for hours now. Exhaustion was starting to get to him, forcing him to stop more and more, but he couldn't afford to take a break. He had heard two bullheads fly overhead already and each time he had to quickly dive under the snow to hide himself. There was no doubt that the longer he stayed in one spot, it increased the likelihood of getting discovered. And with sunrise coming soon, he needed to cover as much distance as he could, the daylight would make it far easier to spot him. Panting, he stopped by a tree, huffing and wheezing hard as his muscles and body screamed from overexertion. The pain from the gunshots in his shoulder and leg had become dull aches in the back of his mind, as long as he didn't focus on them, it wasn't that bad. Just as he was about to take off again, he felt his right arm explode with pain. He fell to his knees, groaning and grinding his teeth as he felt like his flesh was dissolving from the inside out. The blackened limb began to pulsate and boil, while white boney spines started appearing across it like a rash.

_No, not now!_

He had experienced this before. His body was failing to keep the Grimm element in check and it was starting to run rampant. The Grimm implants were quite literally trying to consume him and break free. Sweat broke across his brow as the pain and spasms of his arm got worse.

_Dust…_

He needed to find Dust soon. Back at the lab, it seemed that Dust was the only thing that could stave off the deterioration of his body. His small window of escape just suddenly got a lot narrower. If he didn't find Dust soon, it wouldn't matter if he managed to get away or not, he'd be dead either way.

_Stay... DOWN!_

With a great push of willpower, he managed to force his body to subside and calm down. The spasms stopped but the pain was still there. His arm receded back to its normal form, but still throbbed with a dull sensation. He tried to pick up his feet again but that episode was the last straw for his body. His legs gave out beneath him, all strength gone. He breathes hard, trying to come up with a plan. There's nothing but endless wilderness ahead of him, and certain death behind him. But if he stayed put, certain death would catch up regardless. There was no good option right now unless he could somehow replenish his strength. As he thought a bit more, he heard the distinct sound of an approaching bullhead overhead. Panicking, he immediately dug himself into the snow, doing his best to bury himself up before the scanners swept the area. He held his breath as the bullhead flew over his position, preparing himself to run or fight at any moment. The bullhead seemed to slow down and hover overhead, it's searchlights illuminating the snow around him.

_This is it…_

Panic began to grip his heart.

_This is where it happens..._

Just as he was prepared to potentially fight for his life, the bullhead's lights swept away, and the aircraft flew forward into the night. Once the sound of the engines finally faded, he felt it was safe enough to leave his hiding spot. Gathering his bearings again, a thought suddenly popped into his head. Yes, of course, that would work…

00000

"This is Echo-3, conducting secondary sweep of target area." The bullhead roared over the frozen forests of the Atlesian mountains, it's searchlights sweeping back and forth. On board in the cockpit, state of the art recon equipment were scanning for any sign of their target.

"This is Echo-3, secondary sweep turning up negative on all scanners, returning to base-" The pilot stopped himself as a spot showed up on the infrared camera display.

"Wait, rescinding that report, I have something on my scanners. Heat signature size and intensity suggests humanoid in nature. Echo-3 pursuing." The pilot hit the "Alert" button on his dashboard. Behind him in the bullhead's hold, the alert lights turned red, making the armed guards inside perk up. The pilot brought the bullhead down low and set it to hover mode.

"Echo-3 to command, we're over the supposed target's area, deploying ground team." On his command, the bullhead's side doors slid open and a squad of armed soldiers in white camouflage rappelled down. As soon as they hit the snow, they leveled their PDWs, getting into a circular formation to try to locate their target.

Meanwhile in the shadows of a large pine tree, someone was watching them, waiting. He watched as the squad moved closer and closer to the tree he was hiding in, his modified eyes tracking every movement they made.

"_That's right, a little bit closer…" _He thought to himself as his right arm morphed into a claw once more.

The soldiers, unaware of the precise location of their target, still looked around, paranoid, while the pilot above relayed information to them.

"According to the scanners you're almost right on top of him." He reported to the ground team. The soldiers all looked towards a prominent tree in front of them, the bark marred with deep gouges, like claws. One of the soldiers motioned the team forward towards the tree. Slowly the squad made their way over, looking into the branches to try to get a visual.

Then, there was the sound of a branch snapping.

"What was that?" One of the soldiers shouted as he swung around, looking into the other rest of his squad looked up around them as well, trying to find the source of the sound. One of the soldiers looked into a particularly well shaded part of the canopy. There seemed to be something moving in there.

"Hey guys…" He began. Two glowing yellow eyes peered out from the shadows. Then it blinked.

"Guys!-" Those were the last words he got out as an animalistic roar issued from around them. Before the rest of the soldiers could react, something had launched itself out of the trees and onto their teammate. There was a sound of ripping flesh and the snap of bones and by the soldiers turned their attention to where their teammate once was, they were greeted by the sight of a headless corpse, slumping forward into the snow. Behind him, was a dark shadow with a great clawed hand. Its eyes glowed in the dark like flames, and in its clutches, was the severed head of the dead soldier.

"What the hell?!" One of the other soldiers yelled.

"Contact contact!" Another screamed as the squad opened fire on the monster. The monster leapt into the air as bullets peppered the ground where it was standing on. Before the soldiers had time to aim upwards, he swung his arm downward, and slammed down in the middle of the soldiers, kicking up a cloud of snow that blinded everyone inside.

"I can't see, I can't see!" One of the soldiers called out. There was another sound of claws whistling through the air and a scream before another body hit the ground. By this point the rest of the soldiers were at wits end, trying to find their target in the middle of this snow screen.

"Where is he?" Where is he?!" One called out.

"I can't see anything!" Another responded. Then a shadow moved in the middle of the cloud. Two of the soldiers noticed and immediately opened fire. Emptying their magazines as they fired wildly into the haze. When their guns clicked empty, the two slowly moved in, trying to see if it was dead. Instead of seeing their target, what they saw instead was the bullet riddled corpse of one of the squadmates.

"Shit shit!" One of them screamed.

"Shit, if it isn't here, then…" His eyes widened in realization as he heard a growl behind him. The snowy haze had almost dissipated completely by now and looming over the two soldiers was a great black shadow. Slowly the two soldiers turned their heads around.

"_**Behind you."**_

Their screams were the loudest of that night.

00000

Everything took place under a minute and by the time the pilot had reacted to what happened, his entire ground team had been slaughtered. Panicking he swung the bullhead around and made a break for it back to base.

"This is Echo-3. Contact confirmed, capture failed. Entire squad dead, we need reinforcements. We-" Static crackled through the comm channels as the connection suddenly cut out.

Meanwhile on the forest floor, he watched as the bullhead fell out of the sky in a burning wreckage. Multiple bone spines sticking out of the remains of its engines. When the pilot had tried to flee, he had launched several spines into the bullhead's main thrusters, causing a chain explosion that instantly tore through the ship. Satisfied that there were definitely no survivors left. He knelt down in front of the bodies of the dead soldiers and began rummaging through their gear.

_I know you guys have at least one… _

He tore open the pouches on their belts before finally,

_Yes_

He reached into the pouch and pulled out a few red and white crystals that glowed faintly in the night. Hungrily, he crushed the crystals in his clawed hand, and shoved the pieces into his mouth. He let out a sigh of relief as he felt a gentle warmth spread through his body. The throbbing pain in his Grimm arm was subsiding rapidly, and he felt some of his strength renewing. The dust would stave off the corrosion for now, but it wasn't enough to keep him sustained for more than a few days. Three at best.

_Must move faster_

The sky was beginning to light up as dawn approached. His little ambush had helped take him out of immediate danger but now the patrols would definitely increase in frequency and he'd have a harder time trying to hide in daylight.

_More soldiers and weapons…_

They would definitely be better equipped after this, which made it all the more imperative that he put as much distance between them and himself. Checking once more that he didn't miss any other crystals on the corpses, he sprinted off into the trees once more.

00000

Dr. Hyde leisurely sat in his office, sipping on a cup of black tea as he read the reports from the scouts. Most had turned up with nothing but one report had come in after being broadcasted back to base via the bullhead's black box. He listened curiously to the pilot's last reports while scanning over the data the scanners had picked up.

"How interesting." The doctor remarked as he rewatched the infrared camera's footage of the soldiers getting wiped out. "It seems that despite the long term isolation, he has managed to demonstrate a high level of strategic thinking and resourcefulness." His thoughts were interrupted by a red blinking light on his desk. Frowning he put down the data slate and tapped it. The blinking light faded away as a holographic screen appeared before him, projecting the silhouettes of five individuals.

"Gentlemen," greeted, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"What is the status on the escaped subject?" One of them demanded.

"The subject has eluded capture thus far. One of the extraction teams we put out was wiped out, but we are certain he will be retrieved in due time."

"This is unacceptable." Another silhouette commented. "The subject is too important to be allowed to keep roaming free. Need we remind you what's at stake here?" frowned slightly, he really hated dealing with these people.

"If the subject is discovered by someone else, it could cause an international uproar, not to mention that it would jeopardize the entire program. The other kingdoms would-"

"Spare me your political nonsense." Said the doctor cutting them off. "They don't concern me, and quite frankly neither do the rest of you."

"Watch your tone, Doctor." One of the silhouettes threatened. "Don't forget who you're talking to."

"And you likewise." The doctor retorted. "Now if you all would excuse me, I have a job to get back to." Before anyone could respond, ended the call. The doctor rubbed his temples as he picked up his teacup.

"Idiots, all of them." He muttered to himself as he took a sip. He absolutely hated dealing with those suits. They didn't see things the way he did. They didn't grasp his vision, only seeing things as results or reports on a piece of paper.

_A bunch of stuffy imbeciles. _He thought to himself as he picked up the data slate once more.

"But you," he said to himself as he looked at the report once more. "You will be something greater. You will be my gift to the world…" There was a buzz from his desk as a notification popped on the built-in screen. He tapped it and the door to his office slid open, a uniformed soldier walking in.

"Sir." He greeted as he snapped a crisp salute.

"As you were, what is it?" Dr. Hyde demanded.

"It's ready." The soldier approached and put another data slate on the doctor's desk. Dr. Hyde picked it up and looked it over.

"Excellent. Prepare a bullhead. We leave immediately."

"Right away sir." The soldier replied. He got onto his comms as the doctor grabbed his coat and the two left the office.

_Now, let the experiment continue…_


End file.
